Benefit Smokin' Eyes

One of my Christmas presents this year (thanks mum!) was the Benefit Smokin' Eyes makeup palette. It's an all in one kit for creating a smoky eye (and a real treat as I still mainly buy cheap makeup, so benefit is always appreciated!).

Inside the kit there's a few different things...

Three different eyeshadows - a light pink highlighter, pewter base and a dark charcoal. Then there's a black pencil eyeliner (which, um, I seem to have lost between using it & taking this photo? Oh dear), a fluff shadow/hard angle brush, brow zings shaping wax, eye brightener and a wee pair of tweezers. Phew.

It also comes with instructions on how to create a smoky eye. I'd normally throw these away and just do my own thing (mainly down to habit/laziness), but I decided to give it a go and follow the instructions by the letter! It's really easy, just layering the shadows, blending, etc. I normally use liquid eyeliner so it was quite strange using the pencil again (I forgot how sharp they can be!), but it was basically straightforward.

Ignore my hair, I am refusing to brush it while I am on holiday

Here's how it looks on! Initially I wasn't sure if it was dark enough for my liking (when I do a smoky eye I tend to use blacks and greys) but looking at this photo I really like the brown!

It is a very subtle smoky eye... still, really easy to use! The kit is also perfect to throw in your bag - it's a good size and there's a massive mirror in the lid.

I liked it a lot! It's available on the Benefit website for £28.50 if you fancy.